Afterburner Decals 1/48 Roman Empire Decal First Look

By Michael Benolkin

First Look

Afterburner Decals continues to turn out some impressive decal releases covering contemporary US subjects and this latest set is definitely no exception. This release covers a segment of the squadron history of Attack Squadron 106 'Gladiators' from their days in the early A-4 Skyhawk through their current fleet replacement squadron (training) duties in the F/A-18.

The examples presented here include:

• A4D-2, 144962, VA-106, AK/301, USS Shangri-La, 1962
• A-4C, 148463, VA-106, AG/316, USS Independence, 1964
• A-4E, 152078, VA-106, AK/201, USS Intrepid, 1968
• F/A-18B, 161714, VFA-106, AD/357, NAS Cecil Field 1985
• F/A-18D, 163454, VFA-106, AD/300, NAS Cecil Field, 1990
• F/A-18D, 163457, VFA-106, AD/400, NAS Cecil Field, 2005
• F/A-18E, 166420, VFA-106, AD/106, NAS Oceana, 2009
• F/A-18C, 164230, VFA-106, AD/301, NAS Oceana, 2010
• F/A-18A, 162867, VFA-106, AD/342, NAS Oceana, 2010
• F/A-18C, 163745, VFA-106, 45, NAS Oceana, 2010, Naval Centennial Retro Scheme
• F/A-18E, 165666, VFA-106, AD/114, NAS Oceana, 2010, Naval Centennial Retro Scheme

Take a close look at the decal sheet. The sheet is printed by Cartograf and the printing is very well done. What's more, none of these decals require the modeler to stack multiple layers of markings atop one another to recreate artwork. This trend by some other decal companies of producing multiple-layer decals is unfortunate as it puts the burden on you to do the work of what should have been done by the decal maker.

This set provides several complete sets of maintenance stencils and markings to replicate examples of the Skyhawk, Hornet and Super Hornet aircraft, and what a nice selection to choose from! These decals are designed for the Hasegawa kits.

My sincere thanks to Afterburner Decals for this review sample!